Octavia Wiseman
Contact details
About
Overview
Octavia is a Research Fellow working with Professor Christine McCourt on two studies looking at group antenatal care, leading on the process evaluation for the NIHR-funded Research for Equitable Antenatal Care and Health (REACH) Pregnancy Circles Randomised Controlled Trial and country lead for the international Group Care in the First Thousand Days (GC_1000) implementation study. Octavia joined City in 2015 as a Research Assistant and also works clinically part-time in roles including caseloading, Consultant Midwife and parent education. Her Masters dissertation was a mixed-methods study looking at women's experiences of second degree perineal tears sustained during vaginal birth. Her other key interest is access to and experience of maternity care for migrant women and non-English speakers.
Octavia speaks Spanish, Portuguese and French. She leads on group care facilitation training and lectures on midwifery-led models of care, human rights in maternity care and migrant women and maternity care at City and elsewhere.
Octavia started her career studying English and Philosophy at the University of York before taking up a career in publishing. She retrained as a midwife in 2011 and completed an NIHR-funded MClinRes at King's College London in 2015.
Qualifications
- Masters in Clinical Research, King's College London, United Kingdom, 2013 - September 2015
- BSc in Midwifery with registration as a Midwife, King's College London, United Kingdom, October 2008 - September 2011
- BA, University of York, United Kingdom, October 1983 - July 1986
Employment
- Research Fellow, City, University of London, United Kingdom, July 2018 - present
- KCH/LEAP specialist midwife (secondment 0.2 FTE), Lambeth Early Action Partnership (LEAP), United Kingdom, April 2017 - April 2019
- Research Assistant (secondment 0.5 FTE), University of East London, United Kingdom, October 2016 - December 2017
- Research Assistant, City, University of London, United Kingdom, September 2015 - June 2018
- Community Midwife, King'sCollege Hospital, United Kingdom, October 2011 - present
Awards
-
London Maternity & Midwifery Forum (2019). Team Award
Awarded for the work of the Lambeth Early Action Partnership (LEAP) Health Team -
Royal Society of Medicine (2018). John Horder Award for a multi-disciplinary team
The Lambeth Early Action Partnership (LEAP) multi-disciplinary Health Team was set up in April 2017 to address issues around communication and referral between the primary care team looking after women in Lambeth 'from conception to reception'. The team is comprised of a midwife from King's College Hospital (Octavia Wiseman), a midwife from St. Thomas' Hospital, a local GP and a local Health Visitor, all front-line practitioners seconded one day a week. -
Royal Society of Medicine (2010). Student Learning Disability Prize
Awarded for an essay about a case study from practice
Languages
French (can read, speak, understand spoken), Portuguese (can understand spoken) and Spanish - Latin American (can read, write, speak)
Publications
Publications by category
Book
- Scamell, M., Coxon, K. and De Vries, R. (Eds.), (2026). Risk and Uncertainty in Maternity Care. Springer Nature Switzerland. ISBN 9783032027306.
Chapter
- Frutos, M.G.D. and Wiseman, O. (2024). The Displaced or Migrant Client. Health Promotion in Midwifery (pp. 297-312). Routledge.
Journal articles (19)
- Horn, A., Antonioli, E., Wiseman, O., Leister, N., Knight, M., Rodriguez, A.... McCourt, C. (2026). Why continuity of carer matters in group care: A qualitative analysis of women’s experiences of Pregnancy & Parenting Circles in England. Midwifery, 156, pp. 104735-104735. doi:10.1016/j.midw.2026.104735
- McCourt, C., Mehay, A., Wiseman, O., Lazar, J., Ajayi, R., Hamborg, T.... Hatherall, B. (2025). Experiences of group antenatal care in the context of the NHS in England: what are the mechanisms by which it functions in this context? Frontiers in Global Women's Health, 6. doi:10.3389/fgwh.2025.1625785
- Wiseman, O., Kilner, R., Spencer, C., Blake-Senior, C. and Stanke, C. (2025). MIDWIVES, HEALTH VISITORS AND GPS WORKING TOGETHER. The Practising Midwife, 28(4), pp. 8-12. doi:10.55975/wiom6731
- Wiseman, O., Tahir, S., McCourt, C., Mehay, A., Robinson, H., Mondeh, K.... Harden, A. (2025). Improving Diversity in Recruitment: Lessons Learned During the REACH Pregnancy Circles Pilot Trial. Health Expectations, 28(3). doi:10.1111/hex.70300
- Gresh, A., Van Damme, A., Billings, D.L., Rising, S.S., Ibrahim, S., Ajibola, A.... Patil, C.L. (2025). Integrating postnatal care into the redesign of group care beyond birth. Archives of Public Health, 83(1). doi:10.1186/s13690-025-01508-4
- Wiseman, O., McCourt, C., Mehay, A., da Motta, G., Robinson, H., Mondeh, K.... Harden, A. (2024). Involving women with limited English proficiency in group antenatal care: findings from the integrated process evaluation of the Pregnancy Circles pilot trial. Midwifery, 139. doi:10.1016/j.midw.2024.104197
- Sawtell, M., Wiggins, M., Wiseman, O., Mehay, A., McCourt, C., Sweeney, L.... Harden, A. (2023). Group antenatal care: findings from a pilot randomised controlled trial of REACH Pregnancy Circles. Pilot and Feasibility Studies, 9(1). doi:10.1186/s40814-023-01238-w
- Wiseman, O., Emmett, L., Hickford, G., Knight, M., Lazar, J., Yuill, C.... McCourt, C. (2022). The challenges and opportunities for implementing group antenatal care (‘Pregnancy Circles’) as part of standard NHS maternity care: A co-designed qualitative study. Midwifery, 109. doi:10.1016/j.midw.2022.103333
- Scamell, M., Thornton, J., Hales, K., Renfew, M., Dahlen, H., Jowit, M.... Burns, E. (2022). Impact of a quality improvement project to reduce the rate of obstetric anal sphincter injury: a multicentre study with a stepped‐wedge design. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 129(1), pp. 174-175. doi:10.1111/1471-0528.16885
- Wiggins, M., Sawtell, M., Wiseman, O., McCourt, C., Eldridge, S., Hunter, R.... Harden, A. (2020). Group antenatal care (Pregnancy Circles) for diverse and disadvantaged women: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial with integral process and economic evaluations. BMC Health Services Research, 20(1). doi:10.1186/s12913-020-05751-z
- Hunter, L.J., Da Motta, G., McCourt, C., Wiseman, O., Rayment, J.L., Haora, P.... Harden, A. (2019). Better together: A qualitative exploration of women’s perceptions and experiences of group antenatal care. Women and Birth, 32(4), pp. 336-345. doi:10.1016/j.wombi.2018.09.001
- Wiseman, O., Rafferty, A.M., Stockley, J., Murrells, T. and Bick, D. (2019). Infection and wound breakdown in spontaneous second-degree perineal tears: An exploratory mixed methods study. Birth, 46(1), pp. 80-89. doi:10.1111/birt.12389
- Wiggins, M., Sawtell, M., Wiseman, O., McCourt, C., Greenberg, L., Hunter, R.... Harden, A. (2018). Testing the effectiveness of REACH Pregnancy Circles group antenatal care: protocol for a randomised controlled pilot trial. Pilot and Feasibility Studies, 4(1). doi:10.1186/s40814-018-0361-x
- Hunter, L., Da Motta, G., McCourt, C., Wiseman, O., Rayment, J., Haora, P.... Harden, A. (2018). `It makes sense and it works': Maternity care providers' perspectives on the feasibility of a group antenatal care model (Pregnancy Circles). Midwifery, 66, pp. 56-63. doi:10.1016/j.midw.2018.07.016
- Holland, S. and Wiseman, O. (2018). Is caseloading sustainable? Lessons from the front line at King’s College Hospital. Practising Midwife, 21(9), pp. 20-25
- Wiseman, O. and Holland, S. (2018). Is caseloading Sustainable? 25-year History of Caseloading at King’s College Hospital. The Practising midwife, 21(8). doi:10.55975/shxi6614
- Wiseman, O. (2013). Selfless angel or selfish cow? How we judge women's choices around motherhood. Essentially MIDIRS, 4(7), pp. 32-37
- Wiseman, O. (2012). Neuroscience or neurobabble? How science informs parenting policy. Essentially MIDIRS, 3(7), pp. 17-22
- Wiseman, O. (2011). Undocumented migrants and maternity care. British Journal of Midwifery, 19(1), pp. 38-42. doi:10.12968/bjom.2011.19.1.38
Reports (2)
- McCourt, C., Olander, E.K., Wiseman, O., Uddin, N., Plachcinski, R., Rayment, J.... Grollman, C. (2024). Independent evaluation of the implementation of Midwifery Continuity of Carer. London, UK: City, University of London.
- Public Health England, , Davidson, M. and Wiseman, O. (2022). Maternity High Impact Area: Reducing the inequality of outcomes for women from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities and their babies. Public Health England, London. London: Public Health England.
Professional activities
Events/conferences (4)
-
UNICEF Baby Friendly Conference. (Conference) Telford (2017).
Paper: #KingsBrelfie: Using social media as a tool to celebrate breastfeeding mothers and babies in the UK
Author: Godfrey-Evans L
Co-authors: Spencer M, Khukarska W, Joseph J and Wiseman O
Description: Also chosen as a poster presentation at the MaMa Conference 2018 (Glasgow) -
Royal College of Midwives Annual Conference. Manchester (2017).
Paper: Pregnancy Circles: transforming care through community-based partnerships with women
Author: Hunter L
Co-authors: Wiseman O, Mehay A -
POSTER: Watson, K., Sandal, J., Wiseman, O. An analysis of reported 'death' and 'severe' obstetric and neonatal incidents from the United Kingdom NPSA National Reporting and Learning Systems (NRLS). Paris (BMJ - award winning) and Glasgow (2012).
Description: International Forum on Quality & Safety in Healthcare (BMJ, Paris) and British Maternal and Fetal Society Conference (Glasgow) -
POSTER: Wiseman, O. Falling through the cracks: do women whose babies stay in the neonatal unit receive adequate midwifery care? Manchester and London (2011).
Description: Royal College of Midwives Annual Conference (Manchester) and Royal Society of Medicine trainee patient safety poster prize: Safer doctors, safer patients, improving care from the front line (London - shortlisted)
Online articles (3)
- How kindness can make all the difference in challenging times. (2022). Birthrights Blog
- Should we all be wearing masks? A community midwives’ view. (2020). BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health Blog
- Open Space. (2014). Poverty: Journal of the Child Poverty Action Group Vol 149 page 6
Production activity
- Maternity Disadvantage Assessment Tool (MatDAT) - co-designed by Octavia Wiseman and Claire Spencer while seconded to the Lambeth Early Action Partnership (LEAP) Health Team, launched alongside an e-learning package by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) in March 2024 - https://www.rcm.org.uk/media-releases/2024/may/rcm-launches-tool-to-tackle-high-levels-of-maternity-disadvantage/